1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope that is used to observe an object.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-331574, filed Nov. 16, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, endoscopes have been used in various fields such as the field of medicine and the field of industry in order to observe the interior of an object.
Of these endoscopes, those that are provided with a light emitting diode (referred to below as an LED) as an illumination device are well known (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-300514).
Endoscopes that are provided with an LED that irradiates illumination light and a CMOS sensor for obtaining an observation image are also known (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-562)
Furthermore, endoscopes that are provided with a CCD and LED at a distal end of an insertion portion of the endoscope and with a picture signal processing circuit to process signals output from the CCD are also known (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H11-225952).
In addition, endoscopes that are provided with an LED and a temperature sensor to detect the temperature in the vicinity of the LED are also known (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2005-118137).